. >> eliot: this recognition by the u.s. is a major step forward for the syrian rebels even though the president was quick to say they do not support the chaos in the country. >> there is a small element of those who oppose the assad regime that are, in fact, affiliated with al-qaeda and iraq, and we have designated them as a terrorist organization. >> joining me now to help us understand what this means in syria and the larger context of the middle east, from the hoover institution, one of the most astute observers of middle eastern politics. thank you for joining us. >> thank you very much, governor. >> eliot: is this recognition by president obama too little too late or appropriately calibrated calibrated. >> you stole my line. it's too little, too late. it doesn't matter what the obama administration is doing. we waited 21 months. 40,000 syrians were killed. thousands of syrian versus fled to turkey, iraq and jordan. many are refugees. the city has been completely leveled to the ground, and now we come, we offer this rec